Any 2008 Honda Accord owners out there??

[SarahKate]

We have a 2004 Odyssey that we've had on a lease for the past 4 years. Our lease is up w/i the next month and of course we could purchase it or we could just turn it in and get something else. I have gone back and forth the past 4 months and have changed my mind, and I had finally come to peace with just keeping it.

Unfortunately, a new lease is not an option for us because we moved and we can't stay within the mile allotment.

My original thought was to KEEP it, then sell it because it's worth more than the payoff. BUt with gas prices, I'm afraid the vans and SUV's will start being hard to unload.

Soooooo.....going against all my previous opinions that I DON'T want a car, I'm turning a new leaf. We just have one kid, MAYBE another one down the road but maybe not. My main holdups with the car are just being able to haul larger things, and hauling more than four people.....

For you '08 Accord owners, tell me what you think! Are you happy with your decision? Is it roomy enough for you (we're all TALL!)? Trunk space adequate? What model do you have (EX, LX, etc.)? If you have LX, are the amenities nice enough for you? If you downsized from a van to a car, how has that transition been? Can you get three in the back row, or is 2 the max?

Thanks all!!!!!

 

[clarabelle]

I just wanted to mention that I am in a similar boat. I am getting ready to downsize from my 2002 Odyssey to a Subaru Forrester.
We have two children and are not doing a whole lot of car pooling now and I want something smaller.

My husband used to have an accord(2001) and he really liked it -he is a tall guy.

I am going for the Forrester -because it stll has a cargo area and seats that I can fold down.

I also considered the Honda CRV the Honda Element and the Honda Fit and the Subaru Outback

Good luck!

 

[Jaklackus]

Easy to steal=more expensive to insure

otherwise I have heard that they are good reliable cars

 

[SarahKate]

Easy to steal=more expensive to insure

otherwise I have heard that they are good reliable cars

That's not so much the case anymore......if you look at the top 10 most stolen autos you'll see Honda Accord #2......but the list also says it's a 1991 Accord. I pulled that off State Farm's website (which is who insures us). We also live in central Illinois, definitely not a prime target of vehicle snatchin'.

 

[HsvTeacher]

BUt with gas prices, I'm afraid the vans and SUV's will start being hard to unload.

My DH just traded in his big ol' F-150 last week, and we took a big hit on it. The values went down almost $1000 over a two-week period! Ouch! Just since last Friday (5-16), the value has gone down even more.

He originally wanted a Honda, but they offered the least trade-in allowance, so he ended up going with another maker. I just bought a 2008 CR-V, and it is getting around 26 mpg, but I have to cross over a mountain twice a day.

If you are going to trade in or sell, I would do it as quickly as possible! Good luck!

 

[juliana_sd]

If you kept it, how long would you keep it for? How is the gas mileage? How often do you need to haul stuff or extra people?

I wouldn't necessarily put a minivan in the same category as an SUV for resale. People will ALWAYS need minivans.

Although it is fun to think about a new car, if the one you have meets your needs, don't get panicked and feel like you need to unload it sooner rather than later.

That said, I have a 2006 Accord and very tall people (6'4") have been comfortable driving/riding in it. Just don't get a sunroof as it reduces the headroom by a couple of inches. I can fit 3 in the back pretty easily.

 

[AnninIowa]

We don't have an '08 but we do have a new '07, and we love it! Best car we've ever had. Very comfortable and well made. We had Pontiacs before this, but will never go back.

 

[arminnie]

Really pay attention to the mileage that each car gets.

My 2006 Odyssey (which drops to 3 cylinders to save gas except when more power is needed) gets better mileage than the CRV or Element (2006) even though it is bigger. I was pretty shocked by that. I can get 28 pmg on the highway.

 

[beccasmom]

My car was totaled last year and I bought a Honda Civic EX, which I absolutely love! It gets great gas mileage and is perfect for me. However, DH, who is tall, has problems with the lack of headroom...I am just over 5' 3", so it is fine for me. The trunk is a good size and it is a dream to drive. Reliability has been excellent....no issues. I test drove a CRV and really liked it, but decided that I didn't need the extra space just for commuting. I also really like the new Honda Accord; my friend has one and is very happy with it. DH is considering it; he loves his Ford F-150, but not the price of filling the tank! It is a 1999 model and we are huge Honda fans, so probably will end up owning another Accord (we had a 1996 Accord before he got the truck)...if he can stay away from the Honda Ridgeline truck!!!

My neighbor just came off his lease of a Dodge Durango and leased a Nissan Altima....the Durango had been killing him on gas. His only son is leaving for college in the fall, so the timing worked for him. Gas prices here have just gone over the $4.00/gallon mark. A lot of folks are "trading down".

 

[ssllkk]

i have a 2008 accord lx. it is bigger than the 2005 that i had. I am 5'11 and have no problem in it. the trunk is big. for the price you can't go wrong. the insurance on the car is not bad, it has a lot of standard safety features. i average 25-26 mgp. i have this car on a lease and for the size and features it is the best deal.

 

[SarahKate]

Thanks everyone......all your feedback really helps.

We went to our Honda dealership today and sat in one....we definitely liked it. The back seats are sooooo roomy, although DH didn't have as much head room back there as he would have liked, but he would mostly be sitting in the front seat. All the leg room is great too, overall it actually feels more roomy than the CR-V.

I'm in such a quandry because this is a big decision downsizing from a minivan all the way to a car. But if the whole gas thing is our primary motive, we have to go drastic because there's jsut not a big diff between our van and the CR-V when talking MPG.

As far as hauling goes, it is usually just the 3 of us. On rare occasions we'll have DH's dad with us. We dont' do a lot of toting people around. We WILL miss being able to haul large things - and this year we've gotten a lot.....a 50" TV, gazebo, etc. I'm not sure what our backup plan will be for the future. That is a big thing for us too.

If we keep the van, it means that we'll end up paying about 7-8 years total to pay it off. Not that we feel ripped off, it's just that we've been paying just depreciation this time, and if we buy it it will be for the residual which is actually less than the van is curently worth (so it's truly not a bad deal). It just bothers me to think that we'd be paying on it for so long!

I think that we COULD sell it and make some money off of it, being that there really aren't many Honda vans out there for sale "by owner". But it's just not a good time right now and I'm not confident that gas will get any better.

Sigh. I jsut don't know!!!! I hate having to make this decision, I wish I could just KNOW the absolute right thing to do.

 

[Mom2Max]

Hello

We bought a 2008 Accord a little over a month ago and LOVE it! We also have one child and we all fit very comfortably in it with much room to spare. The gas milage is great. I get about 25 mpg just going to work and back. We have the EX ( or whatever the "fancy" one is called). It feels like a luxury car for a fraction of the cost! Good luck with your decision

 

[disneynuts777]

I would never trade in my minivan. To many times I am driving extra kids home or to and from activities. I also need it to haul three kids worth of hockey stuff around!!! We have a 2004 Honda Odyssey and a 2004 EX-L Honda Accord and to my surprise when my DH and I compare gas mileage we are almost always the same.(Within a mile or so). So he drives a car and I drive a minivan for the same price. When the lease comes due this August I will probably buy the lease out.(Unless there is some great promo for a 2008) It has very low mileage and I really do not want to lose my antenna (Where would my mickeyhead go!!!! )

 

[4 Little Bears]

My family bought a 2007 Accord LX last July. DH REALLY wanted an SUV, but I didn't want to pay that much for a vehicle, plus insurance, plus gas just to have space to haul extra people and things around. He does have an older truck that we can use if we need to tote larger things. We test drove the new Rav4, the CRV, Mazda's new SUV (I can't remember the name, but it takes premium gas and gets 10-12 mpg), Toyota Highlander, and the Murano.

Almost a year later, we have no regrets about our Honda purchase. DH thinks the Accord is fun to drive and has lots of room (the trunk held 7 pieces of luggage for our disney trip.) I love that it was cheaper and gets awesome gas mileage.

 

[tflood]

SarahKate I just saw your post for the first time today so i'm a little late in replying, but have you thought about a Fit? I have a 2007 and I absolutly LOVE it! It has a lot of the features of an SUV, but it gets great gas mileage around 31/35, plus its a honda and they can't be beat in my opinion (but i'm a little biased, this is my fourth one) There is a fit thread going on right now that you should check out with some more info from other un-biased fit owners. and if you have any questions, I would be happy to answer them

He're the link (this is my first time posting a link so I hope it works)
http://http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1835799

 

[SarahKate]

Hi all,

Thanks again for all the great feedback!

We ended up buying our '08 Accord on Saturday. It was great timing because it was the last day of the month and they really wanted to strike a deal.

We were going to get an LX, but then I got to thinking "what if" we could get them down on the price on the lowest EX model.....that maybe they'd give us more off since it's a more expensive car.

So we left to eat lunch and ran some numbers - DH pulled up the avg invoice cost of our model on his PDA, then I added on my best estimate for tax, title and license. Went back to the dealership and said that we wanted to look closer at an EX and had them give us a quote. When they came back with it, was only about $600-700 higher than the number we had in our minds. So he went to his finance manager and came back about $200 off - I was fine with that so we bought the car!

I think we did really well, ended getting a great car at basically invoice. And i just saw a Forbes report that says Accord is the 2nd best car for retaining value!!! It's definitely a great investment.

I absolutely LOVE the new car. It drives beautifully, and I love having the sunroof. AND, it has the iPod port so I've been listening to my tunes a lot. We had to buy DD a DVD player since we had one in the van and it really helps.

So now I have this van in my driveway (it will be returned to Honda in about the next week)....I'm kind of sad in a way because it's been so good to us and we have lots of memories. It's silly to have an emotional attachment to a vehicle!!! I wish we could just return it now because I still feel bad when I look at it, but can't get it inspected til the 10th.

 

[LIFERBABE]

Really pay attention to the mileage that each car gets.

My 2006 Odyssey (which drops to 3 cylinders to save gas except when more power is needed) gets better mileage than the CRV or Element (2006) even though it is bigger. I was pretty shocked by that. I can get 28 pmg on the highway.

I agree! My 05 Ody gets 25 city and 28 on the highway as long as we stay in the ECO zone which tops out at 75 mph.

I can't see the Subaru doing any better than that. The Ody is on the same platform as the Accord so I would definitely do more research before making a decision.

I downsized from a Chevy Blazer to a Sienna, back when gas went over $1.50 We bought our Ody in 05 and kept the Sienna offlease.

Minivans offer mid size fuel efficiency with SUV capacities. If I downsize any further, it will be to a hybrid or a pocket rocket (which I will not put my family in but would be good for work commute). Neither of which will save me money so Im sticking with the Ody and improving my driving habits to save gas.

 

[MrMarv]

SarahKate---Congratulations. I recently posted on another thread that over 80% of the Accords sold in this country are fully loaded (LX trim level) and have 4-cylinder engines. The fact that you got an EX at your price is just awesome.

You really did your homework---nicely done!!!